Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/23): Hu Does It Again

[Seth Stohs]

A big Thank You to everyone who made it along the path of the Twins Daily Touch ‘Em All Pub Crawl on Saturday. It was great to meet so many of you.

 

It was a busy day in the Twins minor leagues, with two doubleheaders. The Kernels inched closer to clinching an unexpected playoff berth thanks to another tremendously pitched ball game. The Miracle had a couple prospects with three hits.. Virgil Vasquez pitched for the first time since his no-hitter last Saturday, but for a different team.

 

Check out all that and more below in today’s Twins Minor League Report for Saturday's games.RED WINGS REPORT

Game 1 – Rochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 2

Box Score

 

Chris Herrmann led the offense, and the Wings got just enough pitching to pull out Game 1 on Saturday. Herrmann went 3-3 with his 16^th and 17^th doubles. Chris Colabello hit his 10^th double. Pedro Florimon hit his fourth home run of his Red Wings season.

 

Sean Gilmartin started and went 4.1 innings. He gave up two runs on three hits. He walked four and struck out four. Mark Hamburger walked two in 1.2 scoreless relief innings. Michael Tonkin gave up a hit and a walk but recorded his ninth save of the year. He struck out two.

 

Game 2 – Rochester 1, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 2

Box Score

 

The offense struggled in the second game, managing just four hits. Pedro Florimon drove in the team’s lone run with his 16^th double.

 

Virgil Vasquez, fresh off of his New Britain no-no, was promoted to start the second game. He was needed because Yohan Pino made the Game 1 start in the Twins doubleheader. He pitched well, giving up just two runs on six hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out 11. He gave the Red Wings innings, using 119 pitches to complete the game and save the bullpen.

 

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 6, Altoona 1

Box Score

 

Jason Wheeler posted yet another strong start for the Rock Cats. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out eight. Alex Wimmers gave up a hit and walked two over two scoreless innings. He struck out three. Jim Fuller struck out two in a scoreless ninth.

 

Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with two walks. Levi Michael was 2-3 with one walk. Brandon Waring went 2-4 with his 27^th double. Kyle Knudson went 2-3 with a walk and his 11^th double. Reynaldo Rodriguez knocked his 36^th double.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, Charlotte 7

Box Score

 

Ethan Mildren had a rough start on this day. The right-hander was charged with six earned runs on nine hits and two walks over the first 4.1 innings. He struck out one. BJ Hermsen went the next 2.2 innings and gave up a run on four hits and a walk. Alex Muren pitched a perfect frame.

 

Adam Walker went 3-4 with his first triple of the season. Max Kepler was 3-4 as well with his 16^th and 17^th doubles. Jairo Rodriguez went 2-3.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 0

Box Score

 

Chih-Wei Hu was very good. He gave up four hits and a walk over six shutout innings. Brian Gilbert struck out two over two scoreless frames. Jake Reed struck out one in the ninth to record his fourth save with the Kernels. Reed's scoreless streak is now at 19.2 innings and his ERA with the Kernels is just 0.41. The only earned run he has given up with the Kernels came in his June 30 debut with the team. He gave up an unearned run in his second game and that was the last run he's allowed.

 

The Kernels won despite just five hits. Alex Swim went 2-4 with one of the RBIs. The other two Kernels’ runs scored on ground ball double plays.

Jonatan Hinojosa had a hit. He has at least one hit in all 11 games since his return to the Kernels. He is 18-49 (.367) over that stretch with two doubles and four triples.

 

The Kernels can clinch a playoff berth on Sunday with a win in Quad Cities or with a loss by Peoria in Clinton. Magic number is one.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 9, Pulaski 2

Box Score

 

The E-Twins had a good mix of offense and pitching in this game. Lefty Derrick Penilla was the pitching half of that equation. He went six innings and gave up two runs on four hits, a walk and five strikeouts. Sam Clay then struck out five over two scoreless innings. Josh Burris struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning.

 

Jeremias Pineda went 2-5 and scored three runs in this game. He also stole his 21^st base. Tyler Kuresa went 2-5 with his 12^th double and four RBI. He has an impressive 40 RBI on the short-season. Will Hurt went 2-3 with a walk.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

Game 1 – GCL Twins 5, GCL Red Sox 2

Box Score

 

It’s been a tough season for the GCL Twins, so Saturday’s double-header sweep had to feel good them. In the first game, Alexis Tapia went the first 5.1 innings and gave up one run on five hits. He walked none and struck out five. Leonel Zazueta gave up an unearned run on one hit and two walks in the final 1.2 innings.

 

Manuel Guzman went 2-4 with his fourth double. He also stole his 17^th base. Rainis Silva was 1-3 with a walk and drove in two runs. Tyree Davis hit his second double.

 

Game 2 – GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 0

Box Score

 

Zach Tillery started the second game and threw 5.1 shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out two. Trevor Hildenberger struck out three in the final 1.2 innings to record his ninth save.

 

Amaurys Minier went 2-3 with a walk and his 10^th double. Rafael Valera hit his second triple. Manuel Guzman was 1-3 with a walk and his 18^th stolen base.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Chih-Wei Hu, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Adam Walker/Max Kepler, Ft. Myers Miracle

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (12:05 CST) – Tyler Duffey

New Britain @ Altoona (5:00 CST) – Pat Dean

Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (4:00 CST) – DJ Baxendale

Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:15 CST) – Mat Batts

Elizabethton @ Pulaski (DH @ 4:00 CST) – TBD, TBD

GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – No Game Scheduled

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games.

 

A quick reminder:

 

Thanks to the Twins win in Game 1 on Saturday against the Tigers, it means that on Sunday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

 

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[Badsmerf]

Kepler has a .940 OPS in 20 games in August. He started his turn around on July 13th, and here is his slash line since 353/412/535 with a BB/K of 15/10. That makes 28 games and about a month and a half of dominating the FSL. It is really encouraging to see this turn around. Even taking into consideration the entire year which he struggled to start, his K/BB ratio is still pretty good. With the seemingly lack of options for corner OF spots, his reemergence is exciting. Hopefully he can finish the year strong and maybe get the nod for the AFL. He is still only 21, and a strong finish almost guarantees him a trip to AA for 2015 IMO.  

Edited August 24, 2014 by Badsmerf

[jokin]

Kepler has a .940 OPS in 20 games in August. He started his turn around on July 13th, and here is his slash line since 353/412/535 with a BB/K of 15/10. That makes 28 games and about a month and a half of dominating the FSL. It is really encouraging to see this turn around. Even taking into consideration the entire year which he struggled to start, his K/BB ratio is still pretty good. With the seemingly lack of options for corner OF spots, his reemergence is exciting. Hopefully he can finish the year strong and maybe get the nod for the AFL. He is still only 21, and a strong finish almost guarantees him a trip to AA for 2015 IMO.  

 

 

Yep. A minor correction....his BB/K is actually 10/10, but still, a matching 9.1% rate for K% and BB% is quite good,  considering the fact that his ISO during this 28 game run continues to climb, now @ .182 with 12 XBHs.

 

Seth is still convinced that Max will have to repeat A+ starting out 2015, but, he's on the 40-man roster, and as you noted, there's lack of organizational depth at corner OF.  I have to think he gets one of the AFL spots amidst all of the very deserving Twins prospects, especially if Buxton isn't cleared to play. Assuming Kepler does well there and then gets the nod to New Britain next year, this leaves a very good chance that, assuming Buxton and Sano begin the season there, the Rock Cats could start legitimate prospects at every field position to open the 2015 season.  Add the downright scary bullpen that it shapes up to possibly becoming....imagine if you will, 6-7 strikeout machines on the same staff.... Burdi, Zach Jones, Peterson, Van Steensel, Wimmers, Johnson (and Jake Reed looks like he's a level too low in Cedar Rapids).  Taken together with a decent-to-good starting staff, that might be the best minor league team in 2015, at any level.

[Badsmerf]

Oops, I just added the 5 from July twice. Nice catch. 

[Otwins]

Thanks for the Kepler update.  With all his injuries he had kinda fallen off the radar. Good to hear he may be turning the corner.

[Seth Stohs]

I don't know if I'm convinced that Kepler is heading back to Ft. Myers next year. I was a month ago when he was hitting .220 and missing a lot of time. But since he's been back in the lineup pretty much every day, he's been tremendous. Still think he may start at Ft. Myers again next year, but that's not a given at all.